After Carla de la Fuenta and Pamela Zapata noticed that two straight couples were given keys, they confronted the staff at Marin 014 in Providencia. “We were taken to an area far away from the reception and told to wait. Then, as we watched a heterosexual couple check in, we were told that the motel had no available rooms,” said Zapata.

But a guard soon explained that hotel regulations prohibited the reception of gay and lesbian partners. “Patrons of the hotel had complained about the sight of same-sex couples,” a staff member told Chilevision Television.

“These discriminatory incidents are simply unacceptable. they punish love based on prejudice and ignorance.” says Movilh president Rolando Jiménez, who says such mistreatment has been reported at numerous Chilean motels. “This is why we demand that these places end their discriminatory practices. If they do not, we will continue applying [the law].”